Trust Co of the South Makes New $3.95 Million Investment in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Trust Co of the South purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 116,821 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,952,000. First Financial Bancorp. accounts for about 0.6% of Trust Co of the South’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FFBC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,526 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on FFBC. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.67.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

FFBC opened at $33.83 on Monday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $36.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. First Financial Bancorp.’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total transaction of $134,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,537 shares in the company, valued at $3,863,333.01. This represents a 3.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $309,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 243,758 shares in the company, valued at $7,539,434.94. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 14,740 shares of company stock valued at $467,086 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Profile

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent of First Financial Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking services through a network of more than 100 full-service banking centers and mortgage offices across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its core mission centers on delivering personalized relationship banking to businesses, individuals and public sector clients.

First Financial Bank’s product portfolio includes deposit solutions such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside a range of lending offerings that cover commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.